Overcoming Common Objections When Selling VoIP
The VoIP services industry is experiencing an explosion of growth in recent years but is still misunderstood by some customers. In fact, the industry is expected to hit $102.5 billion in revenue by 2026. However, with the technology still in the early phases of adoption, there are several concerns businesses have about how effectively it can meet their needs.
Most of the objections to VoIP are based on misunderstandings about the technology and what it offers. A modern unified communications platform brings not only essential communication functions to a business, but it also brings security, flexibility, and streamlined workflows to the businesses that choose to adopt it.
In this post, we’ll look at some of the common objections VoIP resellers face when trying to sell this technology to their customers and how to respond to them. At every turn, it’s important to show the customer that you understand their needs and address how the technology can help them achieve their goals.
Related: How to Become a VoIP Services Provider
Objection #1: The Price is Too High
Concerns about the price of VoIP and unified communications (UC) systems may be some of the first objections you encounter when trying to sell a business on the benefits of the service. That’s why it’s important to explain to potential buyers not only what they’re getting but also what they’re getting rid of.
First and foremost, explain to your customer that VoIP and UC technology will be replacing their other technologies and the bills that go along with them. Landline phone systems and all the lines required to keep the business running can all be replaced by a VoIP system and softphone apps.
In addition to the savings your customers will see as they replace outdated tech, the benefits of substantially improved flexibility and productivity cannot be ignored. A softphone means that staff is no longer tethered to a desk. Softphones work anywhere there’s a device to run them with an internet connection.
The VoIP and UC platform as a whole streamlines communications and boosts productivity by combining all of a business’ communications into a more cohesive package. With demand for remote and hybrid work environments increasing, the ability to work and communicate from anywhere is essential to future business growth.
Objection #2: The Voice Quality Won’t be Good Enough
Those who rely heavily on communications equipment are also highly dependent on being able to understand the person they’re talking to. Traditional landline phones have been around for a long time and have built up a massive level of both familiarity and trust. Everyone knows that these systems are going to deliver clear voice quality.
VoIP is a relatively new entrant into the field, and fewer people have experience with it. As such, there’s often concern that the quality won’t match what they’re used to and that their job experience will suffer because of it.
The reality to explain to your customers here is that VoIP is capable of extremely high-quality voice transmission. VoIP and other unified communications technologies use the same internet connection that businesses and consumers everywhere trust to stream 4k video into their offices and homes.
In fact, a good UC platform will also include video conferencing features that bring the same level of video fidelity internet users expect from their favorite streaming video site. This means that regardless of a customer’s preferred way to communicate, their messages will get through with clarity and dependability.
Objection #3: The Connectivity Won’t be Reliable Enough
Although it doesn’t happen often, some companies have been affected by the outages of major tech platforms in the past. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets occasionally go down for a few hours or so and send their users into a temporary communications blackout.
It’s easy to understand why people who rely on a communications platform might be wary of tying such an important aspect of their jobs to an internet-based tool. Who’s to say the entire communications system won’t go down for hours one day?
In many ways, comparing outages at places like Facebook to potential outages of a unified communications platform is comparing Apples to Oranges. There are multiple levels of redundancy in place to ensure that a problem at one link in the chain of a UC platform doesn’t affect the entire system. This means your customers can rest assured that their communications will be effectively rerouted past any potential outage to ensure everyone is able to stay in communication.
Objection #4: VoIP Isn’t Secure Enough
This is a major concern with anything that works through access to the internet. When the topic of switching to a unified communications platform comes up, both the IT department and management might have concerns about the security threats the system may pose.
What happens if user accounts are compromised? Will the attackers have access to sensitive customer information? Will they be able to impersonate the company and do serious damage to its reputation?
These are all valid concerns, but a good UC platform will have plenty of tools available to mitigate any security threats. Multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) provides a type of network transport that operates separately from the internet at large.
Communications lines built on MPLS are a more difficult target for hackers by default. Additionally, the data carried by a good UC platform is encrypted and authenticated to provide an additional level of security.
While the risks of having an employee’s username and password compromised are still present, they are no greater than the same risk for the many other cloud services that businesses trust their companies to on a daily basis. You can educate your customers about this and assure them that a great VoIP and UC partner will have solutions in place to keep communications secure.
Objection #5: New Technology Will Overwork the Staff
Security threats aside, you may find an IT department or other staff members who believe they’ll have additional work being pushed on to them. If they think that maintaining the software required to make the entire company’s communications run smoothly is all going to fall into their responsibility, they may push back against the idea. This is especially true if they aren’t sure exactly what is involved in making everything work.
Staff can quickly be put at ease by explaining to them how much of the work in keeping the system running smoothly will fall to the VoIP platform provider. While there may be some work for the staff to perform, especially during the initial installation and rollout of the new system, their workload will not increase significantly.
Objection #6: Unified Communications Platforms are Overkill for Our Company
UCaaS platforms are thought of by some as a tool that only enterprise customers can benefit from. The world’s largest businesses certainly have complex communications needs, with thousands of employees communicating with millions of customers across a variety of channels. Are solutions designed for that environment really beneficial to smaller companies?
In reality, any company that uses more than one communications channel can benefit from unified communications. Almost every business uses the phone to communicate, and the VoIP functionality of a UCaaS platform brings with it a number of benefits over traditional PBX systems. UCaaS platforms truly cover the needs of businesses at all stages in their growth journey.
To educate customers about this objection, be sure to know their business and offer specific examples of the variety of ways VoIP can improve their efficiency, effectiveness, and customer service, regardless of the size of their company.
Related: What Is a UCaaS Platform and How Can It Help My Clients?
Objection #7: The Service is Inflexible
An important aspect of modern business is the ability to remain agile. Tying yourself to an inflexible solution reduces the ability of the company to pivot quickly when situations change. A final misconception about how UC platforms work leads people to think the software may decrease their flexibility and reduce their ability to adapt quickly to new technologies or circumstances.
This misconception comes from the idea that UC platforms are single applications rather than a platform that can integrate with many applications. The best providers will offer integrations with all of the most popular tools that businesses work with, allowing them to take advantage of all the benefits UC and VoIP can bring without sacrificing the ability to pivot quickly to new technology.
Overcome Objections When You Partner with a Platform Provider that Delivers
Selling the benefits of a good UC platform to your customers is much easier if you partner with a good UC platform provider. SkySwitch offers a white-label UCaaS platform that will bring all the features, flexibility, and support you need in order to offer your customers the tools they need. With the flexibility, advanced communications, and value offered by SkySwitch, you can show your customers how this technology will help them achieve their business goals. If you’re ready to add UCaaS to the list of products you offer your customers, contact us today to get started.